Western Command

TO ENABLE LIVING WITH AWARENESS, DIGNITY & SELF RELIANCE CONTRIBUTING TO A HEALTHY, HAPPY AND BONHOMIE ENVIRONMENT IN THE ARMY

AWWA IS AN NGO SERVING ARMY

AWWA aims at holistic development and well-being of army wives and children. The focus of AWWA activities is to facilitate healthy interaction and to ensure that army wives benefit from each others experiences and development of their overall personality to deal with their problems. The welfare being undertaken is aimed at promoting cultural harmony and creating the atmosphere for families to develop their talents, ameliorate their problems and generate interest in healthy and happy ways of living.

The ideals of Asha, Vishwas and Aastha have upheld the highest ethos of sharing and caring with multifarious activities spearheaded by Mrs Sayona Philip, Regional President AWWA with a vision to ensure better quality of life for the families of the Western Command.

Together we have taken great strides towards our aim- Women Empowerment. The year 2018-19 has been an exciting one for AWWA and we have continued to achieve mile stones, which will leave an everlasting impact on improving the quality of life of our Army families.

OBJECTIVES

In view of the socio-economic changes, AWWA Western Command is engaged in a wide spectrum of welfare activities. Presently the following aspects are being given emphasis:-

Furtherance of conventional education, vocational education and introduction of computer education for families.

Development of self-confidence and self-reliance amongst Army wives and children to match the socio-economic scenario.

Enhance scope of Asha Schools to make challenged children self reliant by starting vocational training.

Improve living conditions of our families by making them aware of their rights and duties and provide them assistance to overcome their day to day problems of accommodation, water supply and garbage disposal.

Improve the scope of comprehensive health camps at various AWWA centres, to include children below five years, so that early intervention can be affected for physically/mentally challenged cases.

Provide guidance and assistance to families of soldiers in the Command Theatre including immediate assistance to the families of soldiers killed or wounded in action.

KEY RESULT AREAS

The AWWA activities are organized to ensure welfare of the families at the Formation/ Unit level as per the guidelines issued from time to time by the higher HQ. Primary focus is on Empathy, Awareness and Empowerment with concentration on the following Key Result Areas:- • Education. • Health/Patient Care. • Welfare of FAFA Families. • Improvement of Habitat. • Rehabilitation of Veer Naris and NOK of the Deceased Soldiers.

Regional President AWWA

visit to Command Hospital

THRUST AREAS

• Awareness of socio-economic situation and empowerment of women by imparting Vocational Training. • Provide best quality early childhood education and all round personality development of children. • Health education of families and patient welfare. • Improvement in quality of life (habitat & living standards). • Efficient Management of Asha Schools. • Care and rehabilitation of Veer Naris and ESM. • Care of families in Field Area Family Accommodation (FAFA).

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

AIM

THE AIM IS TO EMPOWER FAMILIES BY PROVIDING THEM WITH VARIED EDUCATIONAL & VOCATIONAL TRAINING TO MAKE THEM STRONG, ENLIGHTENED, SELF RELIANT

1. Various course are running for the empowerment of our families in the institutes run by Army Wives Welfare Association in all the cantonments.

2. Most of the courses which are running for women empowerment are Personality Development and Spoken English, Marriage Counseling, Computer, Nursery Teachers Training (NTT), Driving and Financial Management. For vocational training, courses such as Self Grooming, Beauty Care and Home Decoration, Bag Making, Embroidery, Cooking, Shawl and Durrie Making, Block Printing etc are being conducted.

EMBROIDERY COURSE

COOKING COURSE

NTT CLASS

BEAUTY CARE

AFTER ASHA SCHOOL WHAT?

RECENT INITIATIVES

ASHA SCHOOLS

APPROACH ‘AWARENESS – ACCEPTANCE - FACILITATION’

Total ten Asha Schools managed under aegis of Western Command AWWA at various locations

Army Wives Welfare Association has approached Command Hospitals and Military Hospitals from time to time to arrange for timely availability of medicines to avoid harassment of frequent visits by patients. Also efforts are on to improve infrastructure, hygiene & sanitation, and provisioning of neat & clean linen to the ward patients. Lectures/camps on various topics conducted are as under: - (a) Pulse polio immunization & MR Vaccination Campaign. (b) Lectures/Camps on cancer and breast cancer. (c) Nutrition and diet. (d) Dental Check up and eye camp for students. (e) Stress management. (f) Garabh Sanskar.

Chairperson Patient Welfare visits Command Hospital twice a month. Short comings noticed and suggestions received from patients are conveyed to the hosp management. Mrs Sukhwant Kaur, Regional President AWWA also interacted with patients.

The Army takes care of its Differently Abled Children by running the Asha Schools. These schools managed and run by the Army enable bringing in differently abled children of Army Personnel into the mainstream by providing quality education, helping them overcome their limitations. The Army Wives play a very important role in monitoring the functioning of these institutions and helping them overcome minor hurdles through their soft touch. Seen in this photograph above is Mrs Anu Kler, wife of Gen Alok Kler, felicitating an achiever of Asha School.

World Environment Day

Wives of army personnel involved in Tree Plantation on occasion of the World Environment Day on 05 June 2017.

In every station the wives of Army Personnel regularly meet to discuss various issues of relevance. The issues range from maintenance and upkeep of the Cantonment Areas, to Women Empowerment, Child Care, Medical issues, etc. Seen in the photograph is one such meeting in progress in Ambala Cantonment.

The Army Wives also help institutionalize Skill Development and encourage Entrepreneurship among women. Seen here is one such classroom in Ambala Cantonment

Visit to VTC. Mrs Anupama Yarnal, Chairperson FWO, 616 (I) AD Bde vis the VTC, 26 AD Regt on 21 Nov 17. She was apprised about the various facilities that are available at the VTC like Computers, Activities Room and Class Room. She was also informed about the various welfare activities that have been planned ahead at the VTC for their benefit & empowerment of the families. The updated KYR booklets, Med health Cards, Family Welfare Registers and SOPs were perused by the Chairperson, FWO 616 (I) AD Bde. The visit was org to give Mrs Anupama Yarnal an insight into the classes and activities org at VTC, 26 AD Regt to hone the skills of the families.

Lec on Self Defence. A lecture on “Women Self Defence” was conducted by Mr Hardeep to educate the families and children about Self Defence. He educated all families how to take care of themselves when alone and what to do in adverse situations.

Felicitation of Veer Naris. During the Family Welfare Meet Veer Naris were also felicitated by Mrs Minnie Sethi Chairperson FWO, 26 AD Regt. A sum of Rs 2,500/- each was presented to the four Veer Naris. All grievances in r/o Veer Naris were addressed & they were also assured that their concerns will be solved on priority. The Dir, FWO also motivated them to utilise all facilities being provided by the Mil Stn for their convenience. All Ladies gracefully interacted with the Veer Naris as well.

Wall Highlighting Cl. Wall Highlighting classes are being org at Vocational Trg Centre of the regt for interested families for one week from 13 Dec 17. The participation of the families was enormous. The main aim of the cl was to improve the artistic skills and talent in the families.

Chai-pe-Charcha. A Chai-pe-Charcha was conducted on “HIV/ AIDS awareness to families during the month of Jan 2018. The talk was focused on prevention, precautions and symptoms of HIV/ AIDS. During the talk a 30 minutes video on HIV/ AIDS was also screened to educate them. The families took the topic very enthusiastically and participated in the talk positively.

Stencil Making Cl. Stencil Making classes are being org at Vocational Trg Centre of the regt for families for one week from 15 Jan 18. The main aim of the cl was to improve the artistic skills and talent in the families. The families took part in the event with great zeal.

Gurj Vocational TC (GVTC). A ‘Beautician’ and ‘Self Employed Tailoring’ Course started at Gurj Vocational Training Centre (GVTC) for three months to empower the families of all rks by the project of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY). A total of 9 families are attending the course with keen interest.